SNP: SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon will release the party’s manifesto today. In it will be a pledge to end austerity, increase spending 0.5% a year, reduce English tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000 and an additional £9.bn health spending. There will also e a commitment to back energy regulator Ofgem to set energy prices and form firms to cut gas and electricity bills. It will also include a bid for Westminster to pledge £1.5B extra to Scotland cities. (The Scotsman, page 4; The Herald, page 7, The Sun, page 4; The Daily Telegraph page 4; The Guardian page 1)

David Torrance talks about the fundamental principles in the SNP’s election manifesto (The Herald, page 15)

Robert Harris talks about the possibility of an SNP-Tory coalition (The Sunday Times, page 13)

Carlisle Principle: Prime Minister David Cameron has warned against an SNP-Labour deal saying that they would drain the funding for hospitals in England. He is set to release a review of Scotland’s devolved power, highlighting a Carlisle principle to ensure the rest of the UK isn’t afffected negatively as a result of Scotland’s devolution. (The Scotsman, page 1; The Herald, page 6; The Sun, page 4; The Times, page 8; Financial Times page 2; The Daily Telegraph page 2)

Lesley Riddoch talks about David Cameron’s attempt to scare voters out of a Labour-SNP government (The Scotsman, page 23)

Andrew Marr Interviews: First Minister Sturgeon was interviewed by Andrew Marr and said that under no circumstances would she do a deal with David Cameron. Prime Minister David Cameron said that an SNP-Labour government was “frightening” (The Sun, page 1, The Daily Record, page 6)

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon talks about David Cameron’s view of Scottish voters saying his view is now antithetical to that before the referendum (The Sun, page 5)

Labour: Leader Ed Miliband will make a case for a “radical Labour government” in a keynote address to the STUC in Ayr, promising to implement an £8 minimum wage and end zero hours contracts and introduce a 50p tax rate on the wealthiest individuals. (The Scotsman, page 5, Daily Record page 6)

Scottish Labour: The Scottish Labour Manifesto includes demands for 1,000 extra nurses for the Scottish NHS, an additional 500 GPs and £200M for cancer treatment. The Scottish Labour chiefs will focus on gaining votes from those who were undecided about independence as many of those for independence now support the SNP (The Herald, page 1; Daily Express page 5; The Sunday Times page 7)

Gordon Brown: Former premier Gordon Brown will launch a campaign to boost support for the Scottish Labour party. He is considered more popular in Scotland than Labour leader Ed Miliband (The Sunday Times, page 1)

Student Polls: Poll by High Fliers Research found that Labour and Conservative parties are both at 31% for support from students. Next are the Greens at 25%. Students supporting Labour are expected to earn £3,000 a year less in their first graduate job than those supporting the Tories. (Financial Times, page 2)

Trident: The SNP has said it would block military spending by a Labour government to ensure it wouldn’t spend on Trident. (The Herald, page 7; The Sun, page 5; The Times, page 1; The Daily Telegraph page 1)

Scottish Tories: Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Ruth Davidson accused Labour of planning a Labour-SNP post-election deal. She argued that the SNP’s final goal would be separation and that Labour should be wary of that. Ms Davidson also said she would resign as head of the party if she loses her seat in next year’s Holyrood elections. (The Sun, page 4; The Sunday Times, page 14; Daily Express, page 1; Daily Express page 5)

Tom McCabe: Scotland’s first MSP lost his battle to cancer yesterday at the age of 60. The former health and finance minister was part of the Labour party. He was declared the first winner of the first Holyrood elections in 1999 75 minutes after the polls close. (The Scotsman, page 1; The Herald, page 3; The Daily Record; page 2, The Sun, page 2; Daily Express page 5; The Times page 20; The National page 4)

Economy

Lloyds bank shares: Prime Minister David Cameron has promised voters the chance to buy discounted Lloyds bank shares. He pledged this to Ukip and Liberal Democrat voters and pleaded for them to vote Conservative to prevent a Labour-SNP deal. (The Scotsman, page 6; The Herald, page 8)

Jobs: David Cameron has promised that three out of five jobs will be created outside southeast England, highlighting that 61.5% of the 2m jobs created after May 2010 were outside London and its surrounding counties. (The Times, page 6)

Justice

Housebreakings: The police in Edinburgh are focusing on the increased numbers of house breakers in the city. Operation RAC will be implemented to focus on house break-ins and car crimes. (The Herald, page 5)

Health

South Glasgow University Hospital: Three separate hospitals are poised to be vacated moving 1,000 patients over to the new South Glasgow University Hospital. Scotland’s largest health board will begin the moving process which should finish by the week commencing June 10th (The Herald, age 4)

Reform Scotland

Reform Scotland is a think tank which aims to inform and influence policy debate through robust research, the publication of reports and briefings and by arranging lectures and seminars. It is a charity, independent of any political party, and is funded by donations from individuals, charitable trusts and corporate organisations.